Fragments of Eastern Wonderland
by Mimic Teruyo
Summary: Scraps and short one-shots about Gensokyo and its residents.
1. Ash and Dust

In a barren land at the end of the world lay a lone person, a phoenix in human form. How long she had lain there, she neither knew nor cared. Not even the unexpected sound of footsteps was enough to rouse her.

"It 's been a while, Enma, " she mumbled as the footsteps stopped right next to her.

"Indeed," Eiki responded softly, still outside Mokou's sphere of vision. "How are you? "

"The same as always. The world has come to an end and everyone else is dead. So," she plucked out a strand of her hair, gleaming silver in the moonlight and played with it, "I'm killing time. One second at a time." She turned her head to see Eiki. "You're the only one left. Are you permanently immortal too?"

"No, I am not. One day, I too will die and crumble to dust."

Mokou snorted. "That's just perfect. Ash and dust, those are the only things left anyway. So, one day you will be gone, and then it's just me."

She lifted her arm from the ground and towards the sky. The full moon looked impossibly huge that night.

"Me and her." She closed her fist as if trying to grasp the moon in her palm.

"I wish I could free you from your fate and give you the judgement you deserve." There was genuine pity in Eiki's voice, and if Mokou hadn't been so far beyond caring, she might have been touched. "I can tell you one thing, however." Eiki's eyes were luminous as she looked down at Mokou. "One day, you will reach your moon."


	2. Forgotten Mound of Wind and Flowers

There was something blue above me. The sky, or the sea? The tree branches I also saw indicated the former, but it didn't heed well to make such assumptions. For all I knew, I was far beneath the crust of earth, or stuck in the dimension of dreams, and what I saw was merely a flight of fancy.

Who was I? Where had I been? The answers were within me, so near I could almost touch them, but they evaded me, and I lacked the strength to grasp them. It didn't matter. An exhaustion beyond exhaustion kept pushing my eyelids shut, trying to force me back into hibernation. A part of me wanted to obey, embrace the rest and freedom of all responsibility.

Slowly, I kept pushing towards my memories. The salient parts of my predicament still escaped me, but the core within reminded me of my emotions from when I had last been awake: the fear, an overpowering presence suffocating my breath and drowning my very being, and finally, bitter relief at a salvation that was only one degree removed from oblivion.

Moving the only muscles I could, I furrowed my brow. I wanted to remember all, no matter how painful, but I didn't have the strength.

I had never had the strength.

As I was strove forward without making headway, I grew more aware of my surroundings. It was indeed the sky above me, a normal, blue sky. I was lying on a soft patch of thick moss, surrounded by trees. The air was thick and heavy, and the light filtering through the leaves was dim, attesting to the forest's age. The only I heard was distant birdsong, and even if I had had the strength to move, perhaps I would have chosen to lie there, in the bed of moss the forest had chosen to provide for me, and be gently swayed to sleep by the faint rays of the sun.

There was a sudden sound. Someone had stepped on twig. I attempted to turn my head, but couldn't move. Fortunately, the person walked into my sphere of vision, blocking the sun with her parasol.

"You must return to sleep," said Yukari Yakumo.

My tongue was thick in my mouth, and speaking was a struggle. However, after some difficulties, I managed to speak, in a tiny voice, but still "I know."

"You shouldn't be here in the first place."

"I know." It wasn't my fault I was back in Gensoukyou; after all, I had no inkling why I was awake in the first place. However, I didn't want to expend any energy explaining the fact to Yukari when I didn't know how much strength I had left. After all, it didn't matter.

I closed my eyes. "Before you take me back, there's something I must ask of you."

Yukari made no response, but as she didn't instantly whisk me away, I assumed she would hear me out.

I opened my eyes, a silent prayer in them. "Please remember me."

Yukari smiled, but the smile didn't extend to her eyes. "I will."

"Thank you." With those words, I felt the rest of my strength sapped away, and I closed my eyes for the final time. It was fine, now. Even if I was asleep, even if I should never wake up again, as long as one person remembered me, it would mean I existed.

I exist. I'm real. Even if I didn't have the strength to overcome what had resigned me to Limbo, as long as one soul remembers that I once lived, I _am_.

As slumber claimed me, I heard one last thing.

"Sleep well," Yukari whispered, "Rin Satsuki."


	3. Prayers at a Broken Shrine

"Here we are!" Marisa chirped and happily jumped over the last few steps to the shrine, holding her purple hat in one hand, and an assortment of wild flowers in the other. Mokutou followed, wings close to her body and looking around gingery, uncomfortable out in the open during daytime. It didn't help hat she hadn't informed Lady Mima of their excursion to Gensoukyou, and as Lady Mima had told them that tonight would be the night her newest, still secret plan would be unfurled, it was possible she would return to Reimaden early and notice that Mokutou and Marisa were absent without leave.

Still, there was no point fretting now. What was done was done. It was the anniversary of Marisa's mother's death, after all, and she had insisted of paying her respects. How could Mokutou possibly have refused her when she looked up to her with a soft smile and pleading eyes and asked to go outside?

So, here they were. As Mokutou knew little of Gensoukyou and its locations, she had taken Marisa to the only religious establishment she knew there, the Hakurei shrine.

Or at least, she had taken her where the Hakurei Shrine had very recently existed. Mokutou froze into place as she stared at the pile of rabble and splintered wood that stood where the shrine had been. The young shrine maiden Mima had occasionally mentioned was nowhere to be seen, as was no other living soul. Only a few solitary ghosts bopped around, lolling their tongues

Marisa paid little heed to her surroundings and rushed straight over to what had once been the porch of the shrine. She dived into the rabble, and soon retrieved the donation box, dragging it out in the open.

"I don't have any money or incense, but..." She closed her eyes and muttered a quick spell. The lock on the donation box popped open and fell on the ground, and without further ado Marisa opened the lid and placed her flowers inside the box, giggling.

Then, her expression grew sombre, and she put her hands together. Mokutou walked to her side and stood on guard as the little witch prayed. Who she prayed to, Mokutou didn't know, but the seriousness on Marisa's countenance attested to the sincerity of her feelings.

After several, she stood up and beamed up at Mokutou. "Okay, all done!"

Mokutou offered her hand. "We shall return to Reimaden, then."

Marisa knitted her brow. "Already? But we just got here. I want to know what happened here!" She gestured at the ruins of the shrine.

"All in good time. Lady Mima has some plans for tonight, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Marisa began to giggle again. "Can we go back to the flower fields first? I wanted to pick up the huge sunflower, but it was too big to be a donation."

"Very well. Straight home after that, however."

"Fine. What's for lunch?"

"Vegetable curry."

"Great!" Marisa hugged Mokutou's arm. "I can't wait for Lady Mima to be back! I bet tonight's going to be so much fun!"

Mokutou stroked Marisa's head. "I hope so, child. I hope so."


	4. Night Lights

"Wriggle's got a boyfriend!"

"No, I don't!"

"Oh." After a pause, Cirno resumed her taunting. "Wriggle's got a girlfriend!"

Wriggle blushed violently. "Shut up! No I don't!"

Mystia leaned in closer from the branch she was perched on, smirking. "Then why did you blush like that? Come on, dish out the dirt."

"Geez..." Wriggle turned to look away, her cheeks burning. You make one little mention about it to someone, and suddenly the entire gang is at your throat. "Okay, but only if you swear you'll never tell anyone. And I mean swear, hand on your chest."

In accordance to her words, Cirno, Daiyousei, and Mystia all placed their hands on their chests, still smiling. "We swear."

Wriggle glared at the floating orb of darkness hovering next to Daiyousei. "Rumia, do you swear?"

"I swear!" Was the cheerful reply from the darkness. Wriggle couldn't see the position of her hands, and knowing Rumia they were extended to her sides as always, but it would do.

She let out a weary sigh. "Okay, but remember you swore." She leaned in closer with a conspiratorial air. "Okay, do you remember when we went to the Bamboo Forest and Mokou showed us to Eientei? And then we five made a bet about who could get into Eientei and come back out undetected?"

"Of course!" Cirno beamed proudly. "I won."

"You were spotted while you were exiting and were chased through the forest by five dozen rabbits," said Mystia with an eye roll.

"So what? At least I was halfway out the door. You were caught the moment you entered."

Mystia opened her mouth again, but fell silent when Wriggle sighed and went on. "Yeah, that thing. So anyway, while I was looking for an entrance through which to sneak in, I came across a small side porch. I was about to go past it when the door slid open, and Princess Kaguya stepped outside. You should have seen her! She wore a beautiful silk gown over her clothes, and her hair shone in the moonlight like it had dewdrops in it. She looked up at the moon and sighed so wistfully it was like I could feel her sorrow."

"Wait a second..." Daiyousei interrupted Wriggle's rhapsodic waxing, frowning intently. "The person you like is Princess Kaguya?"

Wriggle looked away again. Her cheeks wouldn't get any less red any time soon. "You got a problem with that?"

"Isn't she like a thousand years old?" Mystia said with a talon on her chin.

"That just means she's mature." Wriggle shook her head. "If you had seen her the way I saw her then, you'd understand."

Cirno laughed. "Nah, but then you might have competition! This way, we can help you out without you having any rivals!"

Wriggle blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, of course we'll help you!"

"It's meant to be!"

"You'll be standing next to her on that porch in no time!"

"Holding hands!

"Ooo!"

"You g-guys..." Wriggle stammered, practically glowing with emotion. "Look, it's no big deal. There's no way she'd ever look twice at some forest youkai like me. She's a real princess! A princess!"

"Never hurt to try!" Cirno rebutted, flexing her arms. "We'll woo her for you in no time!"

Daiyousei clapped her hands together. "We'll need flowers! I'll go to the fields and get some!"

"And sweets!" Mystia smiled. "I can exchange some grilled lampreys for red bean pastries and sweet mochi!"

"We need some special gift too!" Cirno placed her hands on her hips. "I'll go talk to Sunny Milk and the gang and make them help me find something really special."

"And I'll make sure you have privacy in the dark!" Rumia exclaimed.

"Wait..." Wriggle's word fell on deaf ears: before she even managed to speak it, all of her friends had flown off, all in different directions.

Her arms fell uselessly to her sides.

"Geez." There was no stopping her friends once they got started. She might as well get ready.

She snapped her fingers. Hundreds upon hundreds of fireflies appeared, dull in the afternoon light, but ready to fill the skies with their glow.

Wriggle smiled at them. "You'll look great against Rumia's darkness."


	5. Hydrangea Macrophylla

"Surprised?"

Tenshi didn't bother to get up from her stomach, but she did raise her eyebrow. "I'll say. I've sometimes seen lost balloons floating up here, but this is the first time I've seen it happen with an umbrella." Let alone an umbrella with a youkai with turquoise hair and mismatched eyes clinging to it.

The umbrella youkai beamed. "What? Really? You're not just saying?"

"Really." To think someone had chosen to float up exactly where and when Tenshi was lying down and dangling her arms over the edge of Paradise. Granted, most of the borders were walled off, but even so. "Who do I have the pleasure of talking to?"

"Kogasa Tatara, at your service." Kogasa hesitated. "If you were surprised, were you scared, too?"

"Not exactly."

"Oh." Kogasa seemed to deflate before bouncing back again. "Could have been worse." She peered at the edge of a luscious garden behind Tenshi. "Where is this?"

Tenshi chortled. Who was this poor sap who didn't even recognise Paradise when she saw it? "You're in Bhava-Agra."

Kogasa kept looking past her. "Looks pretty."

"That's the nicest thing you can say about it." Tenshi looked at the gardens, too, summoning what little affection she had for the place. "It's not too bad now, with the white roses in full bloom. We have orchids and two-toned hortensias now too."

Kogasa sighed wistfully. "Sounds nice."

Tenshi considered her options. After the most recent debacle, no outsiders were allowed in Paradise, even to visit. Letting someone in without clearance from his father was sure to catch his attention and irk fellow celestials in general.

She grinned.

She stood up and held her hand out to Kogasa. "Hop on. I'll show you around."

Red eye and turquoise eye widened equally. "Really?"

Tenshi flashed her the most genuine smile she could muster. "Sure thing. We can go check out the pavilions and the stone garden, too."

Gingerly, Kogasa removed one pale hand from the handle of the umbrella and gently placed it on Tenshi's outstretched hand, floating feather-like onto Bhava-Agra's surface.

Tenshi grinned. "Great. Let's go."

To her great surprise, instead of letting go after landing, Kogasa clasped her hand and looked her in the eye, her gaze the epitome of gratitude.

"Right." Tenshi was struck by a sudden impulse. She led Kogasa to the nearest hortensia bush, and with some effort, removed a sprig of pink flowers from it one-handed.

"There," she mumbled as she placed the flowers behind Kogasa's right ear. "And then..." she removed another sprig, this one with blue flowers, and placed it behind Kogasa's other ear. "Now you're dressed for the occasion."

The smile Kogasa gave her could have replaced the sun in its radiance.

"Let's go see the roses first." Feeling strangely warm, Tenshi led Kogasa and her umbrella down a narrow passage between flower bushes.


	6. Night Lights II

Kaguya smiled at the solitary daisy in her hand.

Wriggle shuffled her feet. What had she been thinking, offering a single common flower to her? She was a princess! She must have been used to presents encrusted with jewels, beautifully embroidered silk cloths, and flowers so rare they only bloomed once every hundred years. How could one daisy she had plucked outside the Bamboo Forest compete with any of that?

Her heart thrummed in her chest. What was she even doing, daring to approach Kaguya? She was going to thrash Cirno later for pushing her forward when the Princess had stepped into the garden and asked which one of the intruders had been the one to sing under her window. She had seen the grin on Cirno's face as Kaguya had led her away, and the wink and the thumbs-up. Some friend.

"That was quite the spectacle you made there."

Wriggle bowed her head. "I'm sorry."

"Heavens, don't be! It was the most amusing thing I've seen in years."

"R-really?" Wriggle finally dared to look up. The princess was even more stunningly beautiful up close, with silken black hair and eyes one could drown in.

Kaguya chuckled airily. "You should have seen the looks on the faces of the inaba when all the fireflies appeared. Better yet, Eirin's expression when you began to sing. A rather interesting tune, that."

"Heh, well..."

"What is your name, child?"

Wriggle placed a hand on her chest. "Wriggle Nightbug!"

"Wriggle, then." Kaguya hid her mouth behind her long sleeves. "I customarily ask those wishing to court me to bring back a small token of their affection to me. In your case..." She paused for a while. "There is a famous blade known as the Ame-no-Murakumo. Have you heard of it?" When Wriggle shook her head, she smiled. "I'm sure many residents of Gensokyo will gladly tell you about it. Do you think you retrieve this sword and bring to me as a gift?"

"I can...try..." Wriggle mumbled, blinking rapidly. "But if I can't get that, is it okay if I bring you something else cool instead? I really like you, but it might be impossible for me to actually get my hands on that." After all, who was to say the sword was even in Gensokyo?

Kaguya let her hand fall and chuckled. "You're certainly the most honest suitor I've ever had." Her smile widened. "And a cute one, too."

As Wriggle flushed as red as an oni's lantern, Kaguya leaned down and landed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Wriggle's antennae unfurled from shock. She felt as if she could die on the spot, and would be happy to do so.

Kaguya pulled back and patted Wriggle's head. "You have the permission to return to the gardens at a later time. I will have tea prepared for you the next time."

Wriggle barely noticed the rabbits that escorted her outside. Only when a cool night breeze hit her face did she even understand she had left the building. She stood where she was left after the rabbits retreated, dazed.

Kaguya's last words to her played in her mind on a loop. She wasn't sure if she was being taken seriously as a suitor, or rather considered some kind of a pet, but all the same she was worried her sides might split from the wonderment and sheer elation coursing through her.

Her friends shuffled into her view from behind the bamboo stalks, and soon circled her.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Daiyousei asked.

Cirno whistled. "You're so red. Want me to chill you?"

"Come on, did it work out?" asked Mystia.

"Yeah! Tell as what happened!" Rumia said happily.

Wriggle ignored them and instead looked up at the moon.

"Princess Kaguya," she began slowly, "is the kindest, cleverest, most beautiful person in the entire world."

The others exchanged smiles.

Wriggle's hand hovered around the spot on her forehead that the princess had kissed. "I'm never washing again."

"You never washed in the first place," Mystia pointed out.

"All the more reason not to start now." Wriggle let out a dreamy sigh, then looked up at her companions. "Now, let's go have fun!"

"Yeah!"

As they flew above the Bamboo Forest, Wriggle made one last look in the direction of Eientei.

She would remember this night.


	7. it takes a certain kind of mind

Once upon a time, there was a girl who could see all the borders in the universe.

Even when you're not her, you _are_ that girl.

You are an age-old gap youkai just woken from a deep slumber, meeting with ancient acquaintances in a world of magic and fantasy, and a psychology major dozing on the train to Kyoto in a world of technology and steel. When you allow the boundaries freedom they undulate and create ripples.

Either way, it's spring. That alone doesn't change.

You are both awake and asleep at the same time, and the part of you that's asleep dreams of other Gensokyos, near identical to this one and wildly different and all equally real at the same time.

Only, the part of you that's awake sees them as well.

It's a pointless meeting. A nuisance. Another cycle like the life of a mayfly come to an end. A rather pleasant discussion, all things considered. A secret delight. It's for the mere sake of politeness. You're just there as Yuyuko's companion. The fate of the world is at stake.

You are still half asleep. Yuyuko keeps nudging you. Gently, because that is this Yuyuko's way.

You are not always quite so aware of all the parallel Gensokyos, each valid in its own way, crossing paths and partially merging together and separating again, but after a long slumber, you don't only see double but megadruple.

It can take some effort to focus on what your eyes are seeing when the person sitting across the table is simultaneously twenty and a thousand years old, three hundred and ageless, both a perfect saint and a vengeful demon and everything in between, with blue eyes and green eyes and red eyes every colour of the rainbow and it's all the same person even when it's not and there is no one truth and never will be.

Just like the person sitting next to you, hiding half her face behind her fan is Yuyuko, but both Yuyuko your old friend, Yuyuko your lover, Yuyuko your ally of convenience, Yuyuko your secret enemy, Yuyuko you knew as a human, Yuyuko you only met as a ghost, Yuyuko the scatterbrain, the tactician, the hedonist, the tragic heroine, the Yuyuko who is looking at you right now and who you know is your long-time friend feigning ignorance to hide her razor-sharp wit, but the next time your eyes meet she might be another Yuyuko entirely. Which one is your Yuyuko, or are they all, or are some yours and some so far removed you ignore them entirely? Only when you close your eyes and look again with your eyelids down, you can see them all at once, superimposed over each other yet all visible.

Yes. Less complicated things have been known to cause headaches.

The borders twist and turn, and you have the power to put them back where they were, but was their earlier position the correct one or simply the one you were comfortable with? Was there always even a correct position?

You close your eyes. Yuyuko nudges you again, and the enma across the table pauses in the middle of her spiel and coughs.

You could probably benefit from a little self-amputation, that is, stripping away some of your powers. Not a lot, just so that you stop seeing into other realities. The boundary between knowledge and ignorance is right there for you to grasp. But then, where's the fun in that? Let the endless truths abound.

You make up your mind for now. The eyes meeting yours are blue, as are your own today. Your Yuyuko is _your_ Yuyuko, finest silk hiding the keenest blade. The meeting is an annoyance, but a minor one if all goes as planned. This Gensokyo is a fine one, and unless something exceptional happens, you don't mind locking yourself here until the next winter.

You assume all the other parallel Yukari have also made their decisions, and are equally content with them.

Sometimes, you have no idea which Yukari manipulated which border and when. Fortunately, it seems to make little difference.

You turn your head to smile back at Yuyuko and sip at your tea. It smells like lemons for the time being. You relax your shoulders because you have done this for millennia even as you only manipulated your first border yesterday. You know that even if you went mad from the revelation, you can control the madness just like everything else. It only made you stronger.

It takes a certain kind of mind to cope with Gensokyo in its entirety, but you are lucky enough to have what it takes. You gazed into the abyss. And you stared it down.

You can never stop staring it down lest it consume you, but really, it wouldn't be fun any other way.


End file.
